Composition chart
RECORDING DEVICES
Cassette Recorder
| Pros | Cons | Tips |
| inexpensive | produces grainy sound | purchase the best you can afford |
| easy to use | may be only in mono | try to acquire a recorder with additional features eg. pop-up mic (minimizes background noise), pause button, tape counter, manual record level control will all enhance the recording process |
| accessible and portable | hissy and noisy recordings | - |
| each uses a standard size cassette tape | inaccurate playback | ensure the machine is in good condition |
Stand-alone CD writer
| Pros | Cons | Tips |
| easily transferrable on to computer | may require special audio cds | ensure cd surfaces are clean, dry and free from scratches |
| often have built-in mixer | some lack of control over mastering | - |
| simple to use, similar to tape deck | - | - |
| high quality | - | - |
4-track recorder
| Pros | Cons | Tips |
| ability to record four separate channels | copying between tracks can lead to generation loss | start by recording the drums eg. kick drum on track 1, snare on track 2 and overheads mics on track 3 and copy them all to track 4 |
| portable and quickly set up without too many cables to worry about | the display will be small compared to a monitor | avoid bouncing (copying) tracks more than once |
| shallow learning curve, similar to tape deck | more expensive and inaccessible, although they vary significantly in price | when bouncing, have the levels as high as possible to get a strong and clean sound |
| easily step up to more tracks by using another machine | not all multi-track recorders have a cd burner |
possible approach: track4- 3 drum parts + bass track3- 2 rhythm guitar + guitar solo track2- 1 vocal harmony +keyboard track1- final vocal |
